Entities

Editions

Michel Lamoller

8 Feb — 17 Mar 2018 at the Nitra Gallery in Athens, Greece

9 February 2018

Michel Lamoller. Courtesy of Nitra Gallery

Nitra Gallery is pleased to present the first solo show of Michel Lamoller in Greece. Following his presentation at the Direktorenhaus Museum in Berlin, Nitra Gallery presents the artist's new body of work. His signature technique of multiple layers of the same photographic image takes form while plays with the notion of perspective and depth.

What is the viewer's reaction when confronted with a two-dimensional image transformed into a three-dimensional object? One's initial reflex is permeated by a sense of surprise entailed in the use of a medium linked with a certain representational mode. This is followed by attentive observation, as the suggestive play of illusion created by the artist's technique expands the limits of the image, inviting one to explore them. This is a process which alludes to the playful curiosity invoked when one sees a magician's trick: even though one knows that what is occurring is not real, he/she wants to learn more and expose its making.

The images which Michel Lamoller constructs spring out of this field, where photography functions as a material ready to create objects and illusions. These are either framed, thus creating a more theatrical effect as they operate like small-scale maquettes of every day scenes or they are placed in space, in order to simulate real objects. In both cases the images instigate reflection as they create a paradox scenery of a world that is so deep and at the same time so superficial.

The multiple layers of print image shift the attention from the content of the image to the craftsmanship of the photographic sculptures and the new meanings which they suggest: a window placed in an oblique angle, a radiator which seems to be inside the wall, a broken glass in a frame which never broke; perspective becomes malleable, the objects are re-constructed and place is redefined. All this leads up to the question: does one enter this world created or could it perhaps be that he is already part of it? Lamoller's work challenges the viewer to discern the limits between the real and the imaginary and explore the depth of his world.

Michel Lamoller studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, where from he did his MA. During his studies he was awarded with an Erasmus scholarship for one year abroad at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. After High-School he interned at Magnum Photos in NYC. He has participated in many solo and group exhibitions in Helsinki, Istanbul, Seoul, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Hannover, London, Valencia and Maracaibo, Venezuela. He also participated at the Illustrative 16, the Biennale for Illustration and Graphic Art in Berlin in 2016 and at the Festival Internacional de Arte Incubarte 6. Valencia, Spain in 2013. His last solo show was in 2017 at Direktorenhaus Museum of Art, Crafts and Design, Berlin.

Nitra presents a dynamic, multifaceted exhibition program, representing both Greek and international artists with a range of practices. Professional experience with the Greek art world, an overall conception of artistic production in Greece over the past three decades as seen through two generations, and the strong ties Nitra has developed with the city of Istanbul have all led to the the creation of an international network of artists, collectors and professionals in the field.